


White Queen's Knight

by Griselda_Gimpel



Category: Checkmate (2006), DCU, DCU (Comics), Suicide Squad (Comics), World's Finest (Comics)
Genre: CheckMate - Freeform, Gen, Humor, Pre-New 52
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 00:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18062696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griselda_Gimpel/pseuds/Griselda_Gimpel
Summary: When Amanda Waller was White Queen of Checkmate, Count Vertigo was her knight. How did such a thing come to pass? How did Waller convince the United Nations to give the job to a bona fide supervillain? Read on to find out!





	White Queen's Knight

**Author's Note:**

> This is set right before Greg Rucka's 2006 run of Checkmate but references continuity from Suicide Squad (1987) and the World's Finest comics that Count Vertigo appeared in.

                “Next item,” said the Chair of the Checkmate Oversight Committee, “is the selection of White Queen’s Knight. The floor is to the White Queen, Mrs. Waller.”

                Amanda Waller leaned forward in her chair. The COC had just approved Kingsley Faraday for the position of White Queen’s Bishop. There had been some questions about his past in the CIA, but the debate hadn’t lasted long. Now all eyes were on Waller. She smiled easily. “I recommend Floyd Lawton as White Queen’s Knight,” she said.

                As expected, there was immediately a cacophony of disapprovals and shocked mutterings.

                “Deadshot?” sputtered the Representative from Cambodia.

                “That man is a killer,” injected the Representative from France.

                “A hired killer,” added the Representative from the United States. “As in, he kills, for money.”

                “Lawton is completely unacceptable for the position of White Queen’s Knight,” said the COC Chair. “We can put it to a vote if you insist, but I’d advise you to recommend someone else.”

                Waller leaned against one arm of her chair. She hadn’t really expected to get Floyd. “In that case, I recommend Werner Vertigo.”

                There was less shock this time and more expressions of frustration.

                “That man is also a criminal,” said the Representative from Cambodia.

                “He was pardon for his work on behalf of the U.S. government,” Waller countered.

                “We did not pardon him,” retorted the Representative from Russia. “He threatened to nuke Moscow!”

                The COC Chair leaned forward. “Do you really expect us to approve an actual, literal supervillain for a job at the United Nations?”

                “He proved to be very reliable when I was president of Diabloverde,” Waller said. She gave a small wave to the Representative from Diabloverde, who waved back. She hadn’t been president for long, but the economy had greatly improved during her tenure.

                The COC Chair rubbed her temples. “Do you have anyone else you’d recommend? Someone with no history of terrorism and a smaller body count, perhaps?”

                “Of course,” Waller assured the room with false sincerity. “I recommend George Harkness.”

                Dead silence followed. Waller let her gaze travel around the room. She could see lips moving as the COC members tried to remember who George Harkness was. It was the Representative from the U.S. who put it together first.

                “Not…not Captain Boomerang?” the Representative from the U.S. said finally.

                “You cannot be serious?” said the Representative from Japan.

                “I am dead serious,” Waller assured the COC. “If I can’t have Floyd or Werner, then I’ll just have to make do with Boomerbutt.”

                “But he’s dead!” wailed the Representative from the U.S.

                Waller settled comfortably back in her chair. “Is that a disqualifying condition?”

                Silence settled around the room once more. The COC Chair was flipping through the pages of Checkmate’s Charter, but she already knew the answer. Checkmate did not discriminate against the undead. Amanda Waller could have nominated a vampire to be her knight if she so wished, and that meant she could nominate Captain Boomerang.

                It was the Representative from Russia who spoke first. “Perhaps we could allow Count Vertigo. His crimes were some time ago, and we were all rather nuke happy in those days.” The Representative from Russia was envisioning the corpse of Captain Boomerang propped up on a dolly and rolled through the halls of Checkmate, a boomerang taped to one hand.

                “We need parity between humans and metahumans,” said the Representative from Japan, shuddering as she remembered her country’s last encounter with Captain Boomerang. “Count Vertigo fits there. Deadshot or Captain Boomerang would not. If Waller’s knight is not a metahuman, we have to do some reshuffling with the other positions.”

                “That’s true,” said the Representative of the U.S., thinking of Lazarus pits and all the other ways that Captain Boomerang could transition from dead to alive.

                “Count Vertigo might have done some crimes in the past,” added the Representative of Australia, “but he is not a national disgrace to us. That must count for something.”

                Waller smiled at the room. She had the COC right where she wanted it, and she knew it. The COC Chair saw her looking for the entire world like a cat that had caught the canary, and the fight in the COC Chair died. With a sigh, she caved. “I hereby call a vote on Count Werner Vertigo for the position of White Queen’s Knight. All in favor?” Around the room, hands went up, and Count Vertigo was confirmed unanimously.


End file.
